A sensitive LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of geniposide and its active metabolite genipin in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Genipin's potential as an anti-cancer agent: from phytochemical origins to clinical prospects

This comprehensive review delves into the multifaceted aspects of genipin, a bioactive compound derived from medicinal plants, focusing on its anti-cancer potential. The review begins by detailing the sources and phytochemical properties of genipin, underscoring its significance in traditional medicine and its transition into contemporary cancer research. It then explores the intricate relationship between genipin's chemical structure and its observed anti-cancer activity, highlighting the molecular underpinnings contributing to its therapeutic potential. This is complemented by a thorough analysis of preclinical studies, which investigates genipin's efficacy against various cancer cell lines and its mechanisms of action at the cellular level. A crucial component of the review is the examination of genipin's bioavailability and pharmacokinetics, providing insights into how the compound is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted in the body. Then, this review offers a general and updated overview of the anti-cancer studies of genipin and its derivatives based on its basic molecular mechanisms, induction of apoptosis, inhibition of cell proliferation, and disruption of cancer cell signaling pathways. We include information that complements the genipin study, such as toxicity data, and we differentiate this review by including commercial status, disposition, and regulation. Also, this review of genipin stands out for incorporating information on proposals for a technological approach through its load in nanotechnology to improve its bioavailability. The culmination of this information positions genipin as a promising candidate for developing novel anti-cancer drugs capable of supplementing or enhancing current cancer therapies.

Comprehensive Metabolite Identification of Genipin in Rats Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Genipin, an aglycone of geniposide, is a rich iridoid component in the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis and has numerous biological activities. However, its metabolic profiles in vivo and vitro remain unclear. In this study, an effective analytical strategy based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) in positive and negative ion modes was developed to analyze and identify genipin metabolites in rat urine, blood, feces, and fecal fermentation in combination with many methods including post-collection data mining methods, high-resolution extracted ion chromatography (HREIC), and multiple mass defect filtering (MMDF). Simultaneously, the metabolites of genipin in vivo were verified by fecal fermentation of SD rats at different times. Finally, based on information such as reference substances, chromatographic retention behavior, and accurate mass determination, a total of 50 metabolites (including prototypes) were identified in vivo. Among them, 7, 31 and 28 metabolites in vivo were identified in blood, urine, and feces, respectively. Our results showed that genipin could generate different metabolites that underwent multiple metabolic reactions in vivo including methylation, hydroxylation, dehydroxylation, hydrogenation, sulfonation, glucuronidation, demethylation, and their superimposed reactions. Forty-six metabolites were verified in vitro. Meanwhile, 2 and 19 metabolites identified in blood and urine were also verified in fecal fermentation at different times. These results demonstrated that metabolites were produced in feces and reabsorbed into the body. In conclusion, the newly discovered metabolites of genipin can provide a new perspective for understanding its pharmacological effects and build the foundation for thee toxicity and safety evaluations of genipin.

Metabolomics based comprehensive investigation of Gardeniae Fructus induced hepatotoxicity

Gardeniae Fructus (Zhizi in Chinese, ZZ in brief), a commonly used herbal medicine, has aroused wide concern for hepatotoxicity, but the mechanism remains to be investigated. This study was aimed at investigating the mechanism of ZZ-induced liver injury in vivo and in vitro based on metabolomics and evaluating the hepatotoxicity prediction ability of the in vitro model. SD rats were administered with extracted ZZ and HepG2 cells were treated with genipin, the major hepatotoxic metabolite of ZZ. Liver, plasma, intracellular and extracellular samples were obtained for metabolomics analysis. As a result, ZZ caused plasma biochemical and liver histopathological alterations in rats, and induced purine and amino acid metabolism disorder in the liver and pyrimidine, primary bile acids, amino acid metabolism and pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis disorder in the plasma. Pyrimidine, purine, amino acid metabolism and pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis were also found to be disturbed in the genipin-treated HepG2 cells, which exhibited similarity with the result in vivo. This study comprehensively illustrates the underlying mechanism involved in ZZ-related hepatotoxicity from the aspect of metabolome, and provides evidence that identifying hepatotoxicity can be achieved in cells, representing a non-animal alternative for systemic toxicology.

Simultaneous determination of three iridoid glycosides of Rehmannia glutinosa in rat biological samples using a validated hydrophilic interaction-UHPLC-MS/MS method in pharmacokinetic and in vitro studies

The purpose of this study was to develop a method for simultaneous analysis of aucubin, catalpol, and geniposide, which are representative iridoid glycoside constituents of Rehmannia glutinosa, in rat plasma, urine, and feces using hydrophilic interaction ultra high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The three components were separated using 10 mmol/L aqueous ammonium formate containing 0.01% (v/v) formic acid and acetonitrile as a mobile phase by gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min, equipped with a Kinetex^® HILIC column (50 × 2.1 mm, 2.6 μm). Quantitation of this analysis was performed on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer employing electrospray ionization and operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode. The chromatograms showed high resolution, sensitivity, and selectivity with no interference with plasma constituents. In all three iridoid glycosides, both the intra- and interbatch precisions (coefficient of variation %) were less than 4.81%. The accuracy was 96.56-103.55% for aucubin, 95.23-106.21% for catalpol, and 94.50-104.16% for geniposide. The developed analytical method satisfied the criteria of international guidance and was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies including oral bioavailability of aucubin, catalpol, and geniposide, and their urinary and fecal excretion ratios after oral or intravenous administration to rats. The new method was also applied to measure plasma protein binding ratios in vitro.

Isoflavones' effects on pharmacokinetic profiles of main iridoids from Gardeniae Fructus in rats

Gardeniae Fructus (GF) and Semen Sojae Praeparatum (SSP) are both medicine food homologies and widely used in Chinese clinical prescriptions together. The research investigated the pharmacokinetics of four iridoids in normal rats and isolfavones-fed rats, which were administered with isolfavones from SSP for 7, 14, 21 and 28 consecutive days. A validated LC-MS/MS method was developed for determining shanzhiside, genipin-1-gentiobioside, geniposide and their metabolite genipin in rat plasma. Plasma samples were pretreated by solid-phase extraction using paeoniflorin as the internal standard. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters Atlantis T3 (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 3 μm) column using a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitril and water (containing 0.06% acetic acid). The mass detection was under the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode via polarity switching between negative and positive ionization modes. The calibration curves exhibited good linearity (r > 0.997) for all components. The lower limit of quantitation was in the range of 1–10 ng/mL. The intra-day and inter-day precisions (RSD) at three different levels were both less than 12.2% and the accuracies (RE) ranged from −10.1% to 16.4%. The extraction recovery of them ranged from 53.8% to 99.7%. Pharmacokinetic results indicated the bioavailability of three iridoid glycosides and the metabolite, genipin in normal rats was higher than that in rats exposed to isoflavones. With the longer time of administration of isoflavones, plasma concentrations of iridoids decreased, while genipin sulfate, the phase Ⅱ metabolite of genposide and genipin-1-gentiobioside, appeared the rising exposure. The pharmacokinetic profiles of main iridoids from GF were altered by isoflavones.

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A LC-MS/MS method for determination of four iridoids in rat plasma was developed and applied.

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The bioavailability of four iridoids decreased in rats with their increasing isoflavones exposure time.

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Isoflavones could alter the fate of iridoids in vivo when GF and SSP were prescribed together to obtain toxicity-reducing.

Screening of the Hepatotoxic Components in Fructus Gardeniae and Their Effects on Rat Liver BRL-3A Cells

Fructus Gardeniae (FG) is a common Chinese medicine and food. However, the toxicity of FG has drawn increasing concern, especially its hepatotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to screen the hepatotoxic components of FG and evaluate their effects on rat liver BRL-3A cells. The chemical composition of FG was determined by HPLC-ESI-MS. CCK-8 assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of ten chemical components from FG, and then the toxic components with significant inhibitory activity were selected for further study. The results showed that geniposide, genipin, genipin-1-gentiobioside, gardenoside, and shanzhiside all suppress cells viability. Apoptosis assays further indicated that geniposide and its metabolite genipin are the main hepatotoxic components of FG. Pretreatment of cells with geniposide or genipin increased the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) were decreased, while the malondialdehyde (MDA) level was increased. The cell contents of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and nitric oxide (NO) were also increased. Molecular docking simulations were used to investigate the mechanism of FG-induced hepatotoxicity, revealing that geniposide and genipin bind strongly to the pro-inflammatory factor TNFR1 receptor of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. The obtained results strongly indicate that the hepatotoxicity of FG is caused by iridoids compounds. Genipin had the most significant hepatotoxic effect. These toxic substances destroy the cell antioxidant defense system, increasing inflammatory injury to the liver cells and leading to apoptosis and even necrosis. Thus, this study lays a foundation for toxicology research into FG and its rational application.

Validation of an LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous detection of diverse components of Qinxing Qingre Zhike Granule in rat plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic study after oral administration to rats

A sensitive and validated method of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was established to test the plasma concentrations of active ingredients in Qinxing Qingre Zhike Granule, namely geniposide, liquiritin, isoliquiritin, baicalin, wogonoside, baicalein, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin and glycyrrhetinic acid. The analysis was performed on an Ultimate XB-C₁₈ column at the flow rate of 0.4 mL min^-1 in a single run of 18 min. The mobile phase was composed of 0.05% formic acid in water and acetonitrile with gradient elution. Positive and negative scanning and selected multiple reaction monitoring modes were applied for quantization. The proposed method showed good linearity in the given ranges from 0.6800-340.0 to 3.920-1960 ng mL^-1 with r²  > 0.9917 for all the analytes. The precision (RSD) was no more than 12%, and the accuracy (RE) was less than ±11% for intra- and inter-day. The extract recovery and matrix effect were acceptable for the requirements of biological sample analysis. Moreover, the developed method was effectively applied to the pharmacokinetic investigation of Qinxing Qingre Zhike Granule after oral administration in rats.